Say cheese!

Davis now thinks that Lance can't eat dinner without him sitting in his lap. Lance usually gets home late enough that the boys and I have already eaten, so we sit with him while he eats. The past week or so, Davis has been running up to him at the table saying "dada! Dada!" until he picks him up. This is also Davis' new "cheese" face! I think it's the sweetest!


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liar liar pants on fire

conversation that just happened between Harrison and I...
H:  "Hey Mom, Davis saw his birthday present that you hid because I showed it to him"
Me:  "He did?  When did you show it to him?"
H:  "Umm, a few whiles ago, maybe two days ago."
Me:  "And were you supposed to show it to him??"
H:  "I DIDN"T SHOW IT TO HIM!!!  Quit telling me that I was showing it to him!  I do not want to hear that right now!!!
....ummmmm,  really?  Lets just hope that his fibbing skills don't improve by the time he is in high school! 

So proud!

I was so proud of my Harrison this weekend!  We had his 2nd soccer game and after the first one, I think we all didn't know what to expect.  Harrison's game was at 1 pm (Davis' nap time), so grandma came over to watch Davis while he napped and Lance, Mr Randolph and I took Harrison to the game.  He had a lot of fun at his practice on Thursday so I think he felt a little more prepared for his game.  Anytime he brought up soccer throughout the week, I would just tell him that if he wanted to play, great, if not, that's okay too and that everyone is learning just like he is.  He played for the first 5 - 10 minutes of the game and then said he was getting tired.  I told him he could come sit by us until he felt ready to go back in. 

 He didn't seem to want to play so I asked him if he would be up for trying out the goalie position.  He seemed excited, so in the 3rd quarter, the coach let him be the goalie.

He blocked quite a few goals, despite the fact that half of the other team looked like they could be 7 years old!  I could tell he was so proud and was having a such a great time.  Here is a short video of one of his blocks (I apologize for the excited mom's commentary in the video :))

He went into the game despite being a little afraid and I was so proud of him!  Way to go Harrison!

Spring Break & Easter

Harrison's school was on spring break the week before Easter, so we took that opportunity to visit my sister & her family in Tuscaloosa.  I think this had been the longest stretch of time that we hadn't been to Tuscaloosa.  We had a really fun week catching up and my boys had so much fun playing with their cousins.  They look up to them so much so its always fun to watch them play together. 
On our way to Tuscaloosa, we stopped in Birmingham to eat lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Zoe's.  I really wish they would bring them to Kennesaw!  it was perfect b/c we got to sit outside and there was a fountain right by our table so the boys got to play around while waiting for our food.  Here they are being silly and seeing if the side walk and benches feel hot...

When we got there, Jack had his tennis lesson, so we went up to the club to watch his practice.  I was worried Harrison would throw a fit and want to play with him, but he did great.  Jack did really well and could smack that ball across the court!  Looks like he is taking after his mom!  When we got back to Julie's house, Davis immediately found the piano...and pretty much stayed there all week!  Pretty soon, all the boys were serenading us with their beautiful music...

Davis was a little leery of everyone when we first got there, but warmed up pretty quickly.  He thought Aunt Julie was pretty funny...

The next morning Jack said he wanted to go on a picnic and ride his scooter on all of the sidewalks, which Julie explained meant that he wanted to go to the quad.  (the big square that the University of Alabama is centered around).  Sounded like the perfect way to spend the afternoon to me, so I packed up some lunches and off we went. 

While we were eating, Jack and Harrison ran off and when I turned around, I could not stop laughing.  Harrison had walked up to a girl that was studying outside of the library and introduced himself.  Such the ladies man!  He had all of the girls smiling at him within about 5 seconds.  I had to explain to him that they were busy studying for a test, but I'm not sure he quite understood what that meant.

After our picnic, the boys rode their scooters all over the place.  I forgot to get a picture, but Jack let Harrison borrow one of his razor scooters.  I could not believe how well Harrison could ride it!  He didn't fall down once!  Even Davis got to ride around...

They spent the rest of the time playing hide & seek,

 chasing squirrels and finding caterpillars.  They were everywhere!  At first I thought they were cute but then they kind of grossed me out.  My sister said that she heard they were kind of like secadas, where every 7 years or so, they come out in mass quantities.  Regardless, the boys loved them!

I wish that I could have caught Davis' reaction when we first put the caterpillar on him...he got really nervous and flicked it off really fast.  Once he realized they were friendly, he thought it was really funny.  We finished the afternoon off by stopping for frozen yogurt at their new shop called Sweet Cece's.
We had planned on going to the Birmingham Zoo that Thursday but as soon as we got up to Birmingham, it started raining so we mad a quick change of plans and headed over to the McWaine Center, which is Birmingham's science museum.  The boys absolutely loved it, but it was full of field trips, so it was a little tricky trying to keep up with all of the boys.
They had quite a few water table exhibits so Davis was in Heaven (and soaked pretty quickly!)

They also had a dinosaur bone digging center, just like at the Tellus museum, so Harrison was really excited about that one!

That evening, Julie's sitter came over to watch the boys so we could go out to dinner with just the adults.  One of my favorite spots in college just so happened to be next door to the restaurant, Five, so we stopped in for a bloody mary before dinner. 

Julie was so sweet and loaded me up with some more clothes for the boys before we left.  Davis just loved his new boots!

We had a great time and it definitely went by too fast!  Thankfully we had Easter to look forward to when we got home.  Our church had an Easter egg hunt the next morning, so we headed up to hunt for some eggs.  Harrison was a on a mission, but Davis gave up once he realized that the eggs were empty!  Our church always has the kids pick up empty eggs, and then they turn them in at the end in exchange for a goody bag so that all the kids get the same thing.
Neither of the boys were really into smiling that day, so this was the best I could get...

After the hunt, we came home and Davis took a nap while Harrison helped me make some yummy Easter cookies (thank you Pinterest!)

Just as expected, that evening the Easter bunny made a visit to our house!  Harrison was so excited when he woke up and was super patient waiting for 1.5 hours before his brother woke up open the baskets and hunt for the eggs!

Our Sunday School class was cancelled that morning so it was nice not having to rush to get out of the house.  We let the kids hunt for eggs, play with their new toys in their baskets and then headed to church.

Here is Davis with grandma & granddaddy...of course, that boy can find water to play with anywhere he goes!

We had a smaller crowd than usual for Easter this year, but Hunter, his girlfriend Ellen, and Lance's Aunt Melodie joined us for church this year and then a delicious Easter lunch at the Randolph's house.

It was a gorgeous day and truly made us remember everything we have to be thankful for this time of year.  Happy Easter to all!

First Soccer Game!

Today was Harrison's first soccer game.  I was unsure of what to expect...if he was going to want to play, if the ball would be kicked into the wrong goal, the list goes on.  He always loves the idea of things like this, but when it comes down to actually playing something completely new, he can be a little nervous.  When we arrived, we weren't sure if we would be able to play a game because apparently 6 of the 13 kids on his team came down with a stomach bug this week!  PLEASE cross your fingers and say a prayer that we don't catch it!  Thankfully 9 kids ended up coming, so I guess a few of them were feeling better.  The coaches let the kids practice kicking the ball into the goal before the game started.  Harrison found this to be a perfect opportunity to be silly with his buddy Nathan.  The fact that we got them both to smile at the same time is a miracle!  I also have to thank Nathan's mom, Debbie for taking so many pictures for us today!!

When the game started, Harrison had to sit out, but after about 5 minutes, they called him in.  He was so excited and ran up and down the field with the team, chasing the ball...

After about 5 minutes he decided that he was a little tired...

Despite our encouraging words from the sidelines, I think he had already made up his mind...

We both made an attempt to console him and try to get him excited to go back out and play...

But no luck.  He did so well when he was out there, but I think since he didn't actually get to kick the ball, he got frustrated.  Looking back, I think we should have just let it go and should have told him that when he was ready, he could go back in.  The more we tried to convince him to play, the more he stood his ground.  We had a talk at bedtime and I let him know how proud we were of him.  He told me that he was a little afraid because he wasn't too good at soccer yet.  I told him that everyone is new and after a few more practices, he may start to change his mind and want to play more.  I feel like if we don't make it a big deal, he may come around.  I am so proud of him for trying, whether he ends up liking soccer or not!  Go team Orange Crush Cheetahs!

Chattanooga & Easter Party

The day that my sister left with her boys, Harrison came down with a week long stomach bug.  Thankfully he started to feel better just in time for Lance and I to head up to Chattanooga for a wedding.  The boys spent the weekend at Grandma & Granddaddy Randolph's house so we had a night off.  It was just a short trip, Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, but it was so nice.  The weather was great so we had a leisurely lunch, walked around Chattanooga and then went to the wedding.  We had planned on eating breakfast at the hotel in the morning with my friends before they all had to head out to catch flights, or drive back to Cincinnati, but Lance I slept in a little too late...I have to admit, it felt great!  We had several people recommend a certain restaurant, Food Works, so we hit it up for brunch on Sunday morning.  The best part was that the hostess told us it would be a 40 minute wait.  Normally, with 2 kids in tow, this would be a nightmare, but with just the two of us, it was blissfully relaxing.  A bloody mary in hand, with sunny, 70 degree weather, and I was in Heaven.  This was the only time that I thought to take a picture...

The kids had a fun weekend with the grandparents, filled with Easter egg hunting, bike riding and, the best part for them, staying up past their bedtime!
On Wednesday, a friend of mine had to register her daughter for Kindergarten (are we really getting close to that stage already???), so her little man, Sam, stayed with us.  He fit right in with the boys...first Sam and Davis worked on fixing up Davis' crib...

After all that hard work, they needed a little Cheerio break...

I think Sam needs to teach Harrison & Davis how to say "Cheeeeese!".  (P.S. - the pillows would be from Harrison's pillow tower that he now likes to set up, just about every day now)
Today Harrison's class had their Easter Egg hunt.  The parents were invited to come and help setup the Easter Egg hunt, so Davis and I joined Harrison in his class today.  We got to watch the kids have their circle time, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and while they read a story with Mrs. Sandy, we hid the eggs.  Davis had fun playing with the balls on the playground while we hid the eggs.  All was well until we were about to go get the kids.  I couldn't find Davis...he was hiding on the play set with a handful of candy that he must have swiped from an Easter egg.
They all lined up with their Easter bags that they made...

Davis wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he definitely knew he wanted to be first in line...

 Found one!

Two of the moms made a special Easter snack for the kids and they were so cute...An oreo that was dipped in yellow candy coating to look like a chick and the other was a halved mini doughnut on top of a graham cracker, with a mini oreo in front of the doughnut.  The little flag says "He is Risen" and it is supposed to look like Jesus' tomb.  Gotta love Pinterest!!

You know Davis couldn't just sit and watch...

It was a fun morning and I think the kids all enjoyed every minute!

little buddies

Harrison and Davis are starting to really have fun together now.  Davis has always loved to follow his big brother around, but I'm starting to notice that Harrison doesn't always find it annoying now.  One of Davis' favorite things to do right now, is to find a good hat to wear...he is especially fond of Lance's ski hat...

 Or Harrison's underwear...

 So you can imagine how excited he was when it was silly hat day at Harrison's school in honor of Dr. Seuss...

Of course, he couldn't let Harrison be the only one to wear a hat...

I find the two of them right here quite a bit...

(this is Davis' "help me mom!  Change the channel, I don't like what my brother is watching" face)
Harrison wanted to hold Davis the other day, I just couldn't resist taking a picture!

I have also been trying a few Pinterest ideas for the kids lately and they have been loving it...I surprised them one night and let them play with shaving cream paints in the bathtub...what better place to make a mess??

Anytime I need to clean or cook dinner, this is usually what can you expect to see Davis doing...

So the other day when Davis spilled three bowls of Oakley's water within about 10 minutes, I decided it was time to find something new for him to try...what do you know, this actually kept him entertained for about 45 minutes!

I put a bunch of different types of dried beans, pasta and corks in a muffin tin and gave him a few spoons and bowls and he was in Heaven.  I had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn't put any of it in his mouth, but he loved it...and I was actually able to get the house cleaned up a bit!  I do have to say, that it ended in Davis throwing beans all over the kitchen, but that was worth it to me!

Davis also learned a new trick recently!  We bought him a scooter for Christmas b/c he loved his cousin Trey's, but he always just stands on it and wants you to push him around.  A few weeks ago, he was standing on it, waiting for me and he started to fall, so he put his foot on the ground.  It accidentally moved him forward slightly and you could just see the light bulb go off in his head because he figured out what he needed to do to make it move!  Yeah - go Davis!  There is nothing more fun than watching your kids learn something new!

About 2 weeks ago, my sister called and we were talking about her upcoming visit to Atlanta.  Harrison happened to overhear us and when he realized that his cousins were going to come visit, he got sooo excited.  I wasn't going to tell him until the day of because he doesn't quite understand time yet, so it was a week of pure torture knowing that they were coming, but not understanding when they would be here.
They finally made it last Wednesday, so we met them for dinner at Pappasitos so they didn't have to sit in rush hour traffic.  The boys had fun, but it was crazy busy so we had to wait for a while. 

The next day we went to the zoo, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures.  The boys had fun but it seemed like a lot of animals were either off exhibit or sleeping.
Friday was supposed to rain so we took the kids to the Tellus museum.  Harrison has been a few times with his granddaddy but it was my first visit.  I was highly impressed and it was definitely all of the kids' favorite activity of the week.  They especially liked digging for dinosaur bones...

And Davis needed to practice his downward dog for a little bit...

The best part was that the sand/rocks were made out of rubber so the kids didn't really get dirty!  I picked up a handful expecting my hand to feel sandy afterward, and so I was pleasantly surprised!
The boys all wanted to take pictures on the rock collections outside...I was only able to catch 2 of them...

Davis was worn out and I love this picture because it perfectly catches Davis' favorite things...his lovie and his ball...

On Saturday, my sister had to head back to Tuscaloosa, but we were able to take the kids to the Touch-A-Truck event in downtown Kennesaw for a little bit before they had to head out.  Of course the boys loved it, I mean boys and trucks...whats not to love??

We had such a nice visit and it went too fast!  We get to see them in a few weeks, so that made it a little easier for Harrison.
After they left, Harrison came down with a stomach bug that he is still fighting, so we have been low key all week.  Hopefully we will be a healthy household next week!  I just have to end with the cutest picture of the boys that I took while we were waiting to be seated for dinner on Saturday night...